There are many advantages to being able to operate a computer-aided surgery (CAS) system in an operating room. For a system that allows real-time display of the relative positions of three-dimensional models of anatomical structures and of a surgical tool by tracking of the latter, this means being able to select a component or section of an image displayed on a monitor and perform operations on it such as zooming in and out, rotating it, etc. It also means enabling a surgeon to digitize points, whereby the latter may, for instance, define a profile of an operated bodily part.
The interaction between the surgeon and the CAS system presents some difficulties. For one thing, the surgeon operates in a sterile zone, whereas components of the CAS system are in a non-sterile zone. To perform some computer-related operations, such as controlling the monitor displays, the surgeon is required to interact with the CAS system. For instance, the act of selecting an object on a screen is typically done with a computer mouse, the mouse directing a visible cursor to the desired point on the image. However, due to the need for all objects in the sterile zone of the operating room to be sterile, a mouse cannot be used in the sterile zone to perform such actions.
In order to get around the fact that a mouse is not sterile, it is possible to have a person other than the surgeon interacting with the CAS system. In this case, the surgeon, or other person manipulating a surgical tool, needs to verbalize very specific instructions to the person interacting with the CAS system in order to obtain the desired results. This technique is both tedious and inefficient.
Since the field of interactive CAS systems is relatively new, there is no prior art that covers the concept of providing an interface within the sterile zone by which the surgeon may interact with the CAS system by way of a tracking system.